


Of crow feathers and magic

by FanFicReader01



Category: Uncharted (Video Games)
Genre: Crows, Fantasy, Fantasy AU, M/M, Magic, Magic AU, Warlocks
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2016-07-28
Updated: 2016-08-21
Packaged: 2018-07-27 08:31:21
Rating: Not Rated
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 3
Words: 6,078
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/7610986
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/FanFicReader01/pseuds/FanFicReader01
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Nate and Sam are two warlocks. After they’ve heard of the Great Crow King they decide to go look for the legend. When they want to “steal” his powers to control the crows, their attempt to do so goes horribly wrong. They did kill the Crow King, but there was a price to pay.</p>
            </blockquote>





	1. The Crow King

**Author's Note:**

> I got inspired by the game Bioshock Infinite and the vigor in that game called "Murder of Crows"  
> I hope you like this fantasy AU!  
> I have no idea how long this fic is going to be, but expect it to be not so long. Maybe two more chapters!

There was a huge explosion. The whole mansion caught fire. Screeching and insane laughter was heard from the Crow King before he died due to the collapsing ceiling.

Black birds flew everywhere. Some escaped, others were burnt together with the house.

Both Sam and Nate got out alive, but they passed out immediately after their escape.

 

***

 

_‘It shouldn’t be too much of a problem’ Sam stated as he closed the book Forgotten Myths And Legends._

_‘You sure? There isn’t much information about him around’ Nate said with a hesitating tone. His older brother shook his head._

_‘I’m sure of it. If this book and the other information I gathered is true, then the Crow King will live in that mansion. There won’t be other people around him. That man has secluded him from the rest of the world for years now!’ Sam reassured his younger brother._

_‘If you say so’ Nate mumbled._

_\-----_

_‘Argh, doors are locked from the inside’ Sam grumbled when he gave the front doors a firm push. Nate rolled his eyes._

_‘Of course it’s closed. If I were such a powerful man I too would make sure to secure the place. Especially if I know people would want my head or my power’ he snorted. Sam grinned._

_‘Step back, brother’ he warned._

_He placed himself before the two doors. He inhaled deep, clapped his hands together in front of his chest and then he blew out the air with all his power. With a loud bang the front doors got blown away and even shattered._

_Sam seemed to have perfected his wind spell, Nate noticed. Sam didn’t even have to say the spell out loud._

_‘Well, that was one way to approach the problem’ Nate commented. ‘That was some great stealth skills, brother’ came another sarcastic comment._

_‘Look at the dust, Nathan. I don’t think_ anyone _has set foot here for a very long time’ Sam lowered his voice as he spoke._

_‘Put on your cloak’ he added. The warlock brothers had made a special cloak that turned them invisible for an hour. While wearing it, they could still see each other. That made things easier for them._

_Sam was inspecting the supposed bedroom. Unlike the other rooms they’ve searched so far, this one wasn’t dusty at all. In fact, the room was well maintained and showed that there was certainly someone living here._

_Nate looked in every drawer the room had. There were fancy suits stored into the wardrobe._

_‘Our “King” likes white suits’ Nate mumbled. ‘He sure knows how to dress properly for someone who abandons the rest of his house.’_

_The Drake brothers were startled when suddenly music started to play from a distance._

_‘Let’s check out where it’s coming from!’ Sam whispered as he gestured to exit the bedroom. Nate nodded and tagged along._

_\-----_

_As the music started to sound clearer and closer Nate felt like he was being watched, even though he still wore his cloak._

_The brothers sneaked their way through a long hall with windows on the left that looked out to a courtyard with arid grass and rotting plants. Most of the glass in the windows were shattered or completely gone._

_A few crows sat in those windows and peered at the floor of the hall. It sent a shiver down Nate’s spine. Even Sam didn’t dare to speak a word. Afraid of the crows hearing them._

_At the end of the hall there were two wooden, sturdy looking doors. Sam sighed slightly. If they opened them, the crows certainly would attack or draw unwanted attention to them. And if someone was at the other side, they’d certainly attack or go in defense mode or flee. But he knew there was another way around. The solution was his brother’s specialty: walking through walls._

_Without having to exchange words, Nate knew what to do and he drew a small seal in the palm of both his hands with a special marker. Sam walked towards him. Those cloaks sure proved their worth several times during missions._

_The young warlocks held each other’s hand and walked through the wall like they were ghosts._

_On the other side awaited them a real throne. In the back of the room stood the large throne with a golden shine to it. Most of the other colors were already faded away and looked dull to the eye. Next to the throne was an old phonograph placed that caused the music. The curtains in the room were dusty and frayed. Some of them gnawed by moths._

_The only light was provided by the moon that slowly made room for an uprising sun._

_And on that throne sat the infamous Crow King. He wore a large black cloat. It was wore down and ragged. The face of the man was covered by a large hood._

_The King was surrounded by crows. They sat next to him and even_ on _him. It was quite a sight to behold._

_‘I see you’ve come to… murder me?’ said the voice of the Crow King when the cloak’s invisibility wore off and left the Drake brothers visible again._

_Sam swallowed and Nate’s pupils widened. The brother’s didn’t expect the Crow King to have such a_ nice _and even_ soft _voice. They’d expect a growling and screeching voice instead._

_‘I wouldn’t call it murder exactly’ Sam managed to say after a long silence. He stepped forwards. The Crow King seemed amused as he chuckled._

_‘Then you’ve come to take my powers, I believe?’ the mysterious man guessed. Sam gave his brother an asking look. Nate nodded only._

_‘That’s right. Me and my brother have come to take your power!’ Sam answered. Now came an absurd laughter underneath the hood._

_‘How foolish. But also very brave. To stand here, in front of me. I, the Crow King!’ the man stood up from his throne and spread his arms. The cloak’s sleeves were also long and when spread they looked like wings. The brothers now saw the hands of the King._

_He had sharp black nails, almost claw-like. And he had feathers sprouting out from his hands._

_‘Why? Why do you want my power?’ the Crow King asked in a light tone._

_‘We want to become more powerful’ Sam started his explanation. ‘You see, our parents were murdered. And we want to take our revenge. The man, the order who did this… They are even more powerful than us. And so we need every special power, like yours, to assure our victory!’_

_‘And why should I be concerned about whether you get your revenge or not? Looking at those cloaks and how they made you invisible, you’re some warlocks, am I right?’ the Crow King spoke._

_‘Yes we are. But just some simple sorcery ain’t gonna do the trick’ Nate snorted._

_‘Your power is everlasting. It doesn’t consume your mana nor your health’ Sam added. Again there was laughter from the Crow King._

_‘You think that? That it really doesn’t consume any mana at all? Really foolish of you! Every power has its price!’ the man snorted. Suddenly he took off his hood._

_To Nate and Sam’s surprise the face of the Crow King wasn’t some old man with bags under his eyes. In fact, the man looked quite young, even a bit handsome. He seemed to be in his mid to late 30’s. Brownish hair combed back and dark eyes to match his surroundings._

_‘You seem to be surprised. Didn’t expect the Crow King to look like this?’ the man snickered._

_Sam gaped at the man. There was no way that he could be…_

_‘No! No way!’ he exclaimed. ‘No way what?’ asked Nate confused. Sam looked back at Nate and informed him of his theory: ‘This Crow King. This face. He looks like someone I’ve read about in history class. Raphael Adler!’ Nate shook his head in even more confusion._

_‘Adler, he used to live a century ago! He was a very rich man. His dad had this very famous company that got burned down because of mysterious reasons!’ Sam explained._

_‘No way!’ Nate gasped._

_‘Your friend here seems to be right. I am, or better, I_ was _Raphael Adler. The person behind the fire that wiped away the glorious company of my father was me!’ the Crow King confirmed Sam’s suspicion._

_‘But how then?! How do you still look so young? Aren’t you supposed to be dead?’ Sam stammered._

_‘Well, that leaves some secrets unanswered. But you can’t know everything!’ the Crow King answered. His posture changed immediately. He pointed a finger to the brothers and screeched: ‘Destroy them!’_

_The crows from the hall and the throne now launched themselves at the warlocks with tremendous speed._

_\-----_

_‘Find an opening!’ Sam shouted at his brother as he used his machete to keep the birds off of him._

_Nate also had to duck to avoid getting hit by the sharp claws of one crow. He almost had no time to call out his spells but he did manage to complete the time stopping spell before three crows could fall on Nate._

_‘Now!’ he screamed at his brother and both off them jumped on the Crow King. But when the spell was broken, the only thing they found themselves on where a pile of dead birds._

_‘It’s too late now! No one will make it out alive! No one!’ the Crow King had manifested himself behind the brothers’ back._

_‘One million crows move from space to space! Crumble down the place! Burn it down to the ground and let it never be found!’ the madman screamed as he raised his hands. The long fight had made his face bloody and his hair messy. His face had transformed into a skull of a bird. Behind the holes of the eyes was a glooming red light that looked like pure hatred._

_‘Nathan, watch out!’ Sam yelled at his brother. The floor beneath their feet started to break._

_There really were a million of crows destroying the floor and the whole building._

_The Crow King shouted incomprehensible words before he launched himself in the air. He made wild gestures as he “steered” the birds in all directions. It was one big clusterfuck._

_The next thing Sam and Nate knew was that everything around them was falling apart and that they were running like hell. Sam held Nate’s arm tight in his hand._

_‘We can still make it!’ he snarled, sweat streaming down his forehead. The warlocks were tired. They had used so many mana to stand against the Crow King and his army of fierce birds._

_It was a miracle they were still racing against the clock._

_There was the window. It already caught fire but there was no other choice left but to run towards it._

_‘Jump! Now!’ Sam commanded. Nate nodded. He screamed when he and his brother made contact with the glass._

_When they were in the air, it was like everything had slowed down. As if Nate watched everything happen in slow-motion. The glass splinters around them, the explosion behind them, sparks of fire, blood and sweat. Nate closed his eyes for a second._

_***_

 

Thick smoke and smoldering remains of the mansion were all around the brothers Drake.

Nate’s head ached painfully and he coughed up some blood. He was laying, face down, in the rubble.

Carefully he turned his head so he could breathe better. When he wanted to sit up, he got dizzy.

‘S- Sam?’ was the first thing he managed to say. His throat felt sore and it was like there was a big lump in his stomach. As soon as his head stopped spinning and the pain started to fade, he sat up.

It was then when he saw how his left leg was gone. There was a pool of blood underneath him where the leg was supposed to be. But now he got the leg of a bird. A crow’s leg to be exact. The nausea returned and now Nate actually threw up. With the back of his hand he wiped away the vomit.

Where the hell was his brother? He escaped too, right? He was right before him when they jumped.

A new fear struck Nate. What if Sam didn’t survive the blow of the explosion? They jumped from a very high location. Nate was surprised he hadn’t broken anything.

‘Sam?!’ Nate yelled.

There was no one to hear him, nor see him. The mansion of the Crow King was located high up in the mountains. Even if someone from the valley could’ve seen the explosion, they wouldn’t arrive in time to save those whoever resided in that mansion.

 

A low caw was heard from Nate’s left side. Due to the smoke Nate could distinguish a small life form from the smoke.

‘S- Sam?’ Nate asked hesitatingly. There was no way his brother was that small.

Out of the ashy fog hopped a remaining crow. The black bird hobbled over to Nate. He bobbed his head. Nate was sure the crow was _observing_ him.

The youngest Drake brother repeated the name of his brother and the bird reacted.

It was like it was saying _I am Sam! I am Sam!_

‘Is that really you?’ Nate couldn’t believe his eyes. Although he was a warlock, he never deemed it possible to transform a human into an animal. Or maybe the Crow King had transferred Sam’s soul to a bird’s body. But when and how? During their fight? When he rambled about weird incomprehensible things?

The crow _nodded_ a ‘yes’. Nate crawled back in disbelief but it was true.

That damned King had transformed his leg and his brother’s body! Nate let out an annoyed groan.

‘That damn bastard! Guess that’s the price we have to pay for trying to steal that madman’s power’ he stated. Sam spread his wings and jumped around nervously. Then he flapped his wings and landed on Nate’s shoulder. He cawed.

‘You’re right’ Nate said to his now bird brother. ‘We should get outta here.’ With some trouble Nate stood up and wobbled his way out of the destroyed place. Suddenly he stopped and turned around to look at the massacre. In the sky whirled some black feathers.

 

 


	2. Finding a cure

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Nate and Sam ask an old friend to help them

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> For those who don't know what DE VOCE HOMINIS ET MUTARE means, it can be losely translated from Latin to: about the voice of humans and transformations.  
> Don't know if that's correct Latin, Inused to have Latin classes, but well... :S

_A week later_

‘Argh! Finally home!’ Nate exclaimed as he let himself fall down onto the soft couch. He threw his head back and let out a sigh of relief. His feet hurt like hell from all the walking and climbing.

Doing things like that while injured _and_ having an enlarged crow leg made everything worse and difficult. What had costed the brothers three days first now took them a whole week.

They couldn’t travel that many hours a day anymore with both of them injured. Especially when one of them was transformed into a freaking bird.

Sam still had to get the hang of it. The flying and all that stuff. Another difficulty was communication. The older brother couldn’t use his voice to produce any words. So he had to use gestures, which was also difficult because his animal body had its limits of course. He now had a total different anatomy.

 

‘I promise you, we’ll get your old body back’ Nate promised. But he was also afraid to break that promise. Not because he wouldn’t want to, but because he might not be able to help.

They were warlocks, but they weren’t the greatest, Nate sadly knew.

‘And after that? Then we’ll finally get our revenge’ the younger brother mumbled. Sam cawed in approval. He sat next to him on the couch. Carefully Nate caressed Sam’s tiny head.

For the first time since the whole Crow King event he smiled again. He even laughed.

‘How silly is this world? Can you believe it? We actually defeated Rafe or Crow King or whatever?! We didn’t get his powers though. Only a new leg and a new body’ Nate frowned his head.

‘After I’ve rested enough, I’ll be good to go again. Then I’ll find a cure for you. And if I don’t find a spell or something, I’ll make sure we can make you talk like a human again at least’ Nate said.

 

\-----

 

‘I’m sorry, kid, but I’m afraid I can’t help you with your brother. You’ve gotten yourselves in a nasty situation, which even I can’t solve’ Sully lowered his eyes in a saddened expression.

He cursed himself for not being able to help Sam or his brother.

Sully was Sam and Nate’s teacher for years. Not only their history teacher but also their master in the forbidden arts and magic. In fact, it was thanks to Sully Nate and Sam became warlocks. It had all been pure by accident.

***

Sully was giving lectures at Sam’s college. Because Sam was a good student – only during history class though – Sully paid more attention to him. After the lectures he would often discuss extra things with Sam and he even gave him a collection of his books.

When Sam finished college he and Sully stayed in touch and Nate became Sully’s new student when he enrolled into the same college as his older brother.

Due to the common interests such as recovering old legends and myths or finding treasures, the three men once decided to team up for their search for the infamous Yeti.

Their “mission” was a success, it even gave them some fame. Afterwards they decided to do these kind of things more often together. And that worked out for them most of the time.

But during their search for Avery’s treasure, they found themselves trapped by some Sirens. It was then when Sullivan rescued all three of them by using magic. He was forced to, otherwise they’d die.

What had been a secret, was now out in the open. At first, Sam and Nate were a bit angry because Sully didn’t tell them before. But quickly afterwards the brothers were fascinated with the whole magic stuff so they wanted to learn those skills as well. And Sully being a good friend of them, taught them. In the beginning, Sully only wanted them to learn the basics, but when a part of the Drake family got murdered by an evil cult, he decided to make the Drake brothers full fledged warlocks so they could defend themselves for another possible attack and that they could, one day, have their revenge.

That was almost four years ago.

 

***

‘Human transformations are the hardest to master. Even I, and I’ve been in the magic business for quite a while, can’t fathom how one could transform man to animal or reverse’ Sully sighed.

‘Have you ever… tried it?’ Nate asked. Sully shook his head.

‘No, kid. That’s way too dangerous. Maybe the Crow King died because of it? I believe you always have to sacrifice something if you want to use transformation spells as difficult as that.’

‘Crow King probably sacrificed his own sanity in order to pursue all the power he had. Man, he was crazy! At one point he talked very gently and suddenly his laughter was that of a madman’ Nate spoke. Sam nodded in approval.

‘Anyway, Sully, is there a chance to give Sam back his human speech?’ Nate wondered. Sully scratched the back of his head and frowned.

‘Once again, I don’t know if I can be helpful. You know I concentrate my practices on combat and stealth spells. But I think I know someone who could help you with that’ Sully replied with a smirk.

He walked over to a weird looking phone with too many buttons to press. There were even some small levers attached to the machinery.

‘Wait a sec’ Sully mumbled as he pressed the various buttons in a certain pattern. He pulled two levers on the left part of the phone and then the room was filled with a loud buzzing noise.

Ding!

‘Sully? Is that you? My god, it’s been so long since I’ve heard your voice!’ a female voice seemed to appear out of nowhere. It was as if the voice was everywhere in the room.

‘Yes, it’s me. And I am afraid I need your help’, Sully answered the phone.

‘Is it that bad? Are you injured? Should I come immediately?’ the female’s voice sounded worried.

‘No, no. it hasn’t anything to do with me, but with some of my friends. Remember when I told you about Samuel and Nathan Drake?’

‘You mean those poor boys who lost their parents? The ones you’ve been a teacher of?’

‘Yes, those boys. Although I wouldn’t call them boys anymore. They’re both grown men, Elena’ Sully said.

‘What’s the problem?’, Elena asked.

‘Well, they underwent some nasty transformations. One of them is now a bird and the other is missing his normal human leg. Instead he has that of a crow’ Sully explained. ‘I know you’re not an expert in human transformation either, but I wanted to ask you if you’d happen to know a spell to make Samuel talk like a normal human being again, despite being a bird for the moment.’

There was a short silence on the other side of the phone. Then a cracking sound and Elena’s voice returned again.

‘I’ll try to look for it now. Can the brothers, uhm, come over or is that a problem?’

Sully glared over to Nate and Sam. Nate said: ‘It’s okay. How long do we’ll have to travel, though?’

‘About a day, it’s not so far’ Sully informed.

‘Then it’s okay for us, right Sam?’ the crow nodded.

‘Hey, Elena, it’s okay for them. Thanks for helping us out’ Sully said with a smile.

‘It’s alright, Sully. Always glad to help a friend or a friend of a friend’ was Elena’s response.

 

‘So who is Elena exactly?’ Nate wanted to know after Sully put down the phone.

‘She’s a friend of mine. She is a bit younger than you, Nate. She’s an excellent witch. Although we don’t live very far from each other, I’m always busy with my lectures and the hunting. And she is also travelling most of the time’ Sully explained.

‘A travelling witch? So not only for collecting herbs?’ Nate assumed. Sully nodded. ‘Indeed. She travels around the whole country to meet with other warlocks and witches. She really is the adventurous type. Maybe we should ask her to tag along on our next adventure’ the older man grinned.

\-----

Elena lived in the woods, just like Sully. Although these woods resembled that of a swamp.

Nate had to be careful where he stepped or he would be swallowed by nature itself. Sam had it much easier. He could simply fly over the threats.

‘Do you think Elena can really help us?’ Nate asked out loud. He knew his brother couldn’t answer.

Sam screaked as he landed on Nate’s shoulder. He stuck out one wing and pointed to his left.

There it was, a small cottage, almost hidden due to the vegetation of various plants and branches that grew over it.

Yellow smoke arose from the chimney.

When Nate approached the door he was greeted by a croaked voice. When Nate looked around to see where the voice came from, the voice said: ‘I’m here, idiot! Elena! We’ve got visitors!’

The youngest brother looked down and was surprised when he noticed how the door had a mouth!

Before he could react the door swung open and a woman with blond hair, combed back in a ponytail welcomed them.

‘Shut up Portus! Ah, you must be the Drake brothers! I’ve heard a lot about you from my friend and colleague. I’m Elena Fisher’ she said excited as she reached out her hand. Nate greeted her back by shaking her hand.

 

‘I’ve never seen something like that before’ Elena declared as she inspected Nate’s new leg and Sam’s crow form.

She had taken a dusty old book from a shelf and put it in her lap. From what Nate could see it was a book about the Crow King.

‘Mm, nothing about transforming humans into crows. The only transformation the book speaks about is the transformation of the King himself’ Elena stated. She looked up to the two brothers.

‘However, I’m more surprised your brother Sam survived the whole transformation. My most recent experience with a transformation was three years ago. Well, it was more a witnessing rather than an experience.’

‘I’m surprised too’ Nate mumbled. Elena closed the book and put it back on the shelf. She turned back to the two warlocks and said: ‘But that’s not what you’re here for, to transform you guys back?’

‘No. although it would be cool’ Nate added sarcastically.

‘You want me to use a spell that makes Sam speak again, right?’ Elena asked to be sure. Bird Sam nodded and cawed a bit. He flew over to Elena and settled himself on her shoulder. She laughed.

‘Let’s see what I can do for you, Samuel’ she walked over to her kitchen. Nate took in his surroundings.

 

He was surprised about the mundane look of the house. He had expected the place to be really dusty and old. But it was the opposite.

Elena had a rather modern house with normal furniture and objects. Apart from the huge cooking pot in the middle of the room of course. Nate stood up out of his chair and inspected the bookshelf.

Some books he’d seen at Sully’s home and some of the books were the same as his own collection. But Elena had more books about recipes and herbs. She was a witch after all, Nate thought.

He liked her already. Sully had a good taste in friends.

When Nate glanced over to the kitchen he saw how Elena talked to Sam and Sam seemed to enjoy her company as well. Yes, they should definitely ask her to join them on their adventures one day.

 

‘Here I found something. It’s a large recipe, so it will take some time to collect all the objects and herbs’ Elena returned from the kitchen with Sam still on her shoulder. She handed Nate a browned paper with a lot of text on it.

**_‘DE VOCE HOMINIS ET MUTARE’_** was the title of the recipe. The rest was also written in Latin. Good thing Nate had attended Latin classes when he was younger.

‘Wait, we need berries?’ he asked. Elena nodded. ‘Yes. They serve as the sweetness of one’s voice. The wood stands for strength, sturdiness and power. A cobble stone adds to a gruff voice. You have to pour in honey into the mix as well. Just as the berries, it will add sweetness but it makes the speaking process smoother too’ Elena explained some of the ingredients.

When Nate glanced over at his brother it looks like he frowned. As if he wanted to say _I’m not going to drink that weird drink. Have you seen what’s in it?!_

Yes, the mix also contained some herbs with a dangerous sound to it. Nate swore one of the ingredients contained rat poisoning. Elena noticed the worried look on both brothers.

‘Don’t worry. You won’t die. I only need a very concentrated amount of the poisonous ingredients. Also I always double check and neutralize the mix. Especially if a living being needs the drink’ she assures the brothers.

‘Can you fetch me some of the ingredients. They are in the nearby surroundings. While you search for them, I’ll start preparing the base’

Nate nodded and looked at Sam for approval. ‘Alright, let’s head out!’

 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I plan on doing one more chapter!


	3. A cure?

Preparing the recipe was harder than it looked, for it took a whole week for Elena to prepare. In the meantime Nate and Sam had fully recovered from their injuries, thanks to Elena.

They didn’t sit still, so they practiced their combat. They had to change a lot of their moves and approaches now that Sam was a crow instead of a human. But even in bird form Sam was the one who was the distraction, so that Nate could sneak up behind their opponent to strike at the right moment.

\-----

 ‘Hey, Sam! Think we can take out that big boar?’ Nate whispered as he pointed at the animal in the distance. Sam nodded.

Nate could’ve used one of his spells to capture the boar from a distance, but that would make things too easy. And using spells always drained some mana from a warlock. Not that the simpler spells took up so much mana, but Nate always wanted to prepare for the worse. Like what if he was out of mana? He still wanted to hold his own without having to resort to magic.

That was the reason why he and his brother still practiced their traditional combat skills and hunting skills. To make sure they were never unprepared.

 Sam nodded and flew up. ‘Lead it towards me and then I’ll finish it off’ Nate explained. Without hesitation the crow flew towards the boar to distract it and lead it right into the trap.

It took more effort than expected, because the boar was stubborn. Instead of running away from the bird, it tried to catch the flying animal. Sam had to look out. He flied higher and backed off.

Finally, the boar ran after the bird, making a loud noise. It shook wildly with its head while storming right into Nate.

Quickly, the warlock put out his hunting knife, ducked, rolled away from the incoming boar, stood up again and then attacked. The knife disappeared deep into the flank of the wild animal.

Sam picked his beak into the back of the boar. Nate acted quickly and pulled out a set of small needles with hooks on them, used for close combat to pierce the opponent to the ground.

The animal made several sounds of excruciating pain as its feet were penetrated by the large, thick needles.

 ‘Captured’ Nate grinned. ‘That was some good teamwork!’

Sam cawed in approval.

‘Let’s get it home and we have a nice meal’, Nate mumbled. Dragging the heavy boar home was difficult. Without Sam’s strength, Nate had to double his efforts. But eventually the animal was skewered above a campfire outside the house of the Drake brothers.

From time to time, Nate tore off freshly baked meat and gave tinier pieces to his brother.

 ‘Tomorrow we can go to Elena’ Nate smiled as he stared into the fire. ‘Then we’ll get your voice back.’

\-----

‘Welcome back! Welcome back! The young warlock and his bird brother are back!’ screeched the talking door when Nate and Sam arrived at Elena’s place.

Nate took a look inside but Elena was nowhere to be found. Was she collecting some herbs? She did knew they would come today, right?

 ‘Where is she?’ Nate decided to ask the talking door. The door grinned. ‘Outside, in the woods. ‘Doing a ritual. It’s for bird boy’ the door answered. ‘If I had hands, I’d point to the northwest. If you keep walking, you’ll get swallowed by the woods. But if you keep on walking, without straying from the path, you’ll eventually reach a large open place. That’s where you’ll find my mistress! Now, will you give me some sweets?’ the door said. Nate rolled his eyes.

 ‘Thanks, but I actually gave you a popsicle last time I was here’ but he threw some bonbons into the open mouth of the door.

 ‘That tasted very good, thanks, warlock!’ the door smiled.

 

The door spoke the truth. Elena was found at the open place in the middle of those darn woods.

She had drawn large circle in the middle of the dirt. In the center of it stood a small kettle on a pit. In the circle were other weird looking symbols drawn as well. Elena stood next to the kettle.

 ‘Don’t step any closer’ she warned as she heard the brothers approach.

‘I’m almost finished. Just give me a minute’ she mumbled. Then she continued to chant in an ancient tongue. She also made some exaggerated gestures with her arms and head. Nate had to grin.

If he didn’t knew better, he would’ve thought the woman lost her mind.

 

Suddenly a loud bang and everyone got blinded by a bright white light. Nate got thrown back and landed on his butt.

When he could see clearly again, the circle and the symbols were gone, but the kettle and Elena where still there. What a relief. With a smile she turned around with the kettle in her hand.

She poured the substance in a small cup and walked over to Sam and Nate.

 ‘Here, this should do it. Keep it in your mouth two minutes straight while gurgling. Afterwards, you swallow it immediately’ she told Nate. He looked confused.  ‘Wasn’t this supposed to be for Sam?’

 ‘Well, yes. He gets a smaller potion too. She looked at the crow, sitting on Nate’s shoulder.

‘Open up’ she demanded. Sam did as he was told. Elena took a small pipette from her bag, sucked up the liquid and then let a few droplets fall into Sam’s open beak.

 ‘How are you feeling, guys?’ she asked. Nate felt a bit dizzy and staggered backwards. Elena caught him just before he could fall.

Nate passed out and Sam was standing by his head, looks worried.

 ‘He’ll wake up soon’ Elena said and kneeled beside the bird and the man. Five minutes later Nate came back to his senses.

 

‘Sam?’ he asked. ‘What is it, Nathan?’ Sam the crow said back. Nate sat right up and smiled.

 ‘You can talk again!’ he smiled. Sam nodded and Elena giggled.

‘What is?’ Nate asked confused. ‘You helped us!’ he said. Elena nodded. ‘You sound funny when you talk to Sam’ she grinned.

 ‘What do you mean with that? Wait, you… don’t understand him? Sam speaks normally to me’ Nate said.

‘Maybe to you, but to me?’ Elena hold back another laugh. It was then Nate realized why he had to drink the same liquid as Sam. It wasn’t Sam who regained his normal speech, but it was _him_ who gained the ability to use the speech of crows!

 ‘But why? I, I thought Sam-‘ Nate stammered. Elena sighed and explained: ‘I’m sorry I didn’t tell you this, guys. But I had to alter the recipe. When I was scavenging for one of the ingredients, I went to my friend Chloe for help. I told her why I needed the poisonous substance and she warned me. She told me about all the risks that came with voice transforming drinks and the like. She said the chance of the transformation failing was over eighty percent. She said she had a better experience with transforming a human’s speech. Or to put it correctly, to make a human understand the animal language. Well, the animal in question. So I changed a few things in the recipe with her help.’ Nate scratched his head.

 ‘Well, at least I can understand Sam now and he can understand me. Does this make me understand other birds as well?’

 ‘Not all birds. Only crows and related birds like ravens. This might open a whole new world to you, Nate’ Elena said.

 ‘You can tell her that we’re grateful’ Sam insisted with a small nod. Nate approved and thanked Elena once more.

When the brothers planned their departure, Elena wished them the best of luck and asked them to tell Sully she was doing okay.

 

\----

‘So that’s how it went, huh. Well, at least you guys can understand each other now’ Sully sat back in his chair when Nate explained him everything.

 ‘I’m glad to hear Elena is okay as well. There can be some serious risks, travelling throughout the whole country’ he added.

 ‘Another advantage, no one else will know what I or my brother talk about. So we can just talk about strategies without anyone else understanding’ Nate concluded. Sully nodded in approval.

 ‘Are you guys still planning on getting Sam’s old body and your old leg beg?’

Nate shrugged his shoulders and looked over to Sam.

 ‘Maybe later. For now on, we better search the country for answers’ the older brother mumbled and Nate “translated” the response for Sully.

 ‘Whatever you guys do, I’m always willing to help and join you on your adventures’ Sully stated.

‘I know the Drake brothers will find their way to a solution’ he finally said as he patted Nate on the back.

 ‘Thanks, Sully. We sure will’ Nate smiled.

**Author's Note:**

> Some extra info over the Crow King I'd like you to know:  
> So I imagined Rafe's powers to be like that vigor in Bioshock Infinite. I also like to think that Rafe had a bad relation with his father and burned down the company as some kind of revenge. Afterwards Rafe seeks more powers and somehow gets the power to become in control of the crows. The new power "consumes" him and also makes him younger than he is. Rafe probably feeds on the crows as well to remain his younger self.  
> While Sam and Nate think the power of the Crow King doesn't consume any mana, it consumes the user's sanity!  
> Another thing about the Crow King's power is that he can see everything the crows see. The eyes of the birds are connected to the King. By putting several birds in all places in the mansion, the King can oversee his whole house.


End file.
